


Take That, Jacques Cousteau! (The Continuing Adventures of Commander Octopus and Detective Starfish)

by Cattraine



Series: Commander Octopus [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Crack, Humor, M/M, Magical Artifacts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-14
Updated: 2011-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-22 15:23:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cattraine/pseuds/Cattraine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danno gets fish napped. Its Steve’s turn to worry and Danno is a BAMF even as a starfish.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take That, Jacques Cousteau! (The Continuing Adventures of Commander Octopus and Detective Starfish)

**Author's Note:**

> The crack keeps coming. Also, this mainly features Danno starfish, not Octo Steve. Clearly I have lost all sense. And also I may have watched Finding Nemo once too often.

Detective Danny Williams cursed under his breath as he crept stealthily down the dock towards the small fishing boat berthed there. This was the last goddamned time he was listening to Toast’s dubious tips. He could be home safely asleep in his crappy apartment, or better yet, curled snugly up in Steve’s wide bed in the comfortable beach side house that was feeling more and more like home.

But no, here he was creeping around after midnight following a tip about a mysterious shipment that was hidden aboard the Sea Monkey. Danny snorted under his breath.

Sea monkeys indeed! What a gyp that scam was. He distinctly remembered ordering some as a kid and getting a container of brine shrimp instead of the cute, playful creatures depicted in the ad on the back of his Wolverine comic book. Assholes, ripping off little kids like that. Danny, an outraged consumer as well as a very indignant five year old, had laboriously penciled the company a letter threatening to arrest them when he grew up. A pity he had never followed up on that case. He could’ve totally taken them down on fraud charges.

He sighed and peered over a stack of wooden crates. It was really deserted here at this time of night. He briefly thought about trying to call Steve again, but knew it would only go to voice mail. His partner was currently in mid-flight from Los Angeles. He had gone to the mainland on a rare visit to Mary Ann (and, Danny suspected, to secretly check out and terrorize her new boyfriend) and was due back early in the morning.

Danny really didn’t think this tip would amount to much more than one of Toast’s _pakalolo_ fueled hallucinations, but he had taken the precaution of leaving a message with Chin informing him of his location. He frowned at the silent boat. Fuck it; there was no one around. He would quickly check the damned boat out and go home and try and get a few hours sleep. God knew McGarrett wasn’t going to let him sleep in on Saturday morning like normal people once he got back. He was kind of looking forward to that actually, since it’d been a long, boring week without Super SEAL around.

Quietly, he carefully climbed aboard the bobbing craft and made his way down through the small cabin (nothing of interest there) into the hold. Once inside, he pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and began to explore the stacks of plastic crates and small aquariums he found stowed there. Ten minutes later he was scratching his head in puzzlement. There were no drugs or guns here. All he had found so far were a few plastic crates of coral and various saltwater filled tanks holding weird looking shellfish and sea slugs. Unless he had stumbled on a smuggling ring for the illegal aquarium trade, he was out of luck as far as an arrest.

His musings were interrupted by the thud of sneakered feet on the deck above his head and the hiss of angry voices. Instinctively he turned off his Mag-Lite and crouched low behind a stack of crates against the side of the hold and hid, and peered between a gap between the crates.

Feet thumped down the stairs as three young native men made their way into the hold, still arguing.

“See! I told you Pukui was harvesting from the reef! We need to return these poor endangered creatures to their home.” This from a scarily intense, skinny young man with huge glasses, a wild mop of dark curls and a faded Save the Seals tee shirt.

Danny approved of the sentiment. He was quite fond of SEALs himself. Apparently he had stumbled on a smuggling operation. Just not the type he was expecting.

“Luka, we’ll have to steal the damned boat to do so, and I don’t wanna have to explain to the coast guard why we’re on a stolen fishing boat full of endangered species!”

This guy was a couple of years older and apparently the voice of reason of the group.

“But, Makimo, if we don’t get them back in the water soon, they’ll die.”

Makimo huffed out an annoyed breath and looked at the third guy, who was munching on a Mars bar. He shrugged and scratched his head.

At this point Danny felt it was time he made his presence known, to keep these well meaning kids from ending up charged with criminal mischief, theft and who knew what else before the night was over.

He holstered his sidearm and started to stand, only to stumble over a square object tangled in a pile of nets that was suddenly directly between his feet. He fell to his knees with a muffled oof and a twinge to his bad knee and irritably pawed at the thing—only to find himself holding a familiar carved box. A very familiar carved box whose lid was now wide open thanks to Danny’s clumsy feet.

“Oh, shi…”

There was a loud pop of displaced air.

“What was that?” Makimo said suspiciously.

He and Luka and Tomas made their way over to the crates and peered behind them. All they found was a discarded pile of clothes, an old box, and a little rosy gold sea star entangled in a net, angrily waving its arms.

Luka grinned down at it and scooped it up.

“Don’t worry little guy, we’ll take you home! You’ll be free soon!”

The little starfish wriggled in vigorous protest, to no avail. He had absolutely no desire to be set free in the vast, dangerous Pacific Ocean with no GPS. It would be a long swim home and he didn’t even have fins.

Luka carried him over, lifted a lid and carefully plopped him in a tank with a couple of colorful anemones, before looking pleadingly at his friends.

“See guys, he really wants to be free.”

“Yeah, _brah_! Like in Finding Nemo!” the third guy finally spoke up and they both turned and looked expectantly at Makimo. Makimo sighed and threw up his hands. Peer pressure sucked donkey nuts.

“Okay, but lets hurry and get them back to the reef so we can get this boat back by dawn. Then we’ll go talk to the Kapo about Pukui.”

They set off to untie the boat and do their good deed, secure in the knowledge that surely Kawika and the rest of the Kapo would approve of their valiant efforts to protect the marine environment of Hawaii.

Below in the cargo hold a little sea star shoved desperately at the lid of the tank holding him prisoner.

******************************

Steve McGarrett beamed out the window next to his seat as the plane descended towards the Honolulu International Airport. He couldn’t wait to get the hell out this oversized sardine can and breathe some fresh air. He checked his watch and smirked smugly. He had timed his arrival perfectly. He should be able to get to Danno’s rat hole of an apartment just in time to wake his man up right with some sweet morning loving. He sat back impatiently in his seat, fingers drumming on the armrest, ignoring the flirty smiles the leggy blonde across the aisle kept shooting him. He had a feisty blond of his own waiting for him at home, thank you very much.

He sat back in his cramped seat with a happy sigh. He had accomplished his mission, err, finished his visit with Mary and insured that her new boyfriend was treating her right and taken the time to visit his elderly aunt Irene (and not just for the best sugar cookies ever baked) and even participated in a quick law enforcement seminar on new weapons and tactics with some of LAPD’s finest. He still thought SWAT were pussies compared to SEALs, but had manfully held his tongue, knowing Danno wouldn’t approve if Steve got in trouble with the LAPD. Steve had been a very good boy and left his grenades at home.

A pissed off Danno was a force to be reckoned with, and worse of all; he might withhold all of Steve’s newly won conjugal rights if he was angry enough. On the other hand, an approving Danno gave out awesome rewards if Steve was good and followed proper procedure. Sex with Danno was awesome any damned time. Steve gave a blissful sigh and smirked as his mind filled with happy naked Danno thoughts.

It wouldn’t be long now until he would be able to wheedle Danno into moving in with him, he was sure of it, and from there he would eventually be able to talk Danny into marrying him. His hand automatically went (for the thousandth time) to a secure pocket in his cargo pants and traced the outline of the little square box there. There had been another reason he had gone to Los Angeles—his friend Mike, who had been pensioned out of the Navy due to combat injury, was an award winning jeweler. Now Steve just had to work up enough courage, plan the perfect time and, most difficult of all, actually come up with the words and ask Danno to marry him. It was something Steve wanted desperately. Danny in his life for the rest of his life, and Danny and Gracie sharing his home, becoming his family.

Steve had worked for months remodeling his home, making it appealing, safe and comfortable for them and lately, despite the fact that Danny shared his bed, he couldn’t help but feel that he was running out of time. Steve had noticed the wistful glances Rachel gave Danny now whenever she saw him, and a little bird in the Edwards household (thank God for the extended Kamakona clan—best spies ever) had informed Steve that the marriage was in trouble.

The thought of Rachel inserting herself back into Danny’s life and heart had Steve gibbering incoherently with fear inside. Danny was his now, dammit, and Steve had no intention of gracefully bowing out of the picture and making things easy for her. Rachel was a good person, but Steve was not about to hand Danny back to her on a silver platter. She could just suck it up and stay married to rich and boring Stan and live with the fact that she wasn’t getting her hot ex-husband back.

The plane landed with a light thump and taxied into the airport. Steve’s good mood lasted right up until he found Chin waiting for him near the luggage area. The grim look on his friend’s face caused Steve’s heart to lurch. Dear God, no, not Danny. Please, not Danny.

Chin took one look at Steve’s suddenly white face and wide eyes and stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

“He’s alright Steve, as far as we know, he’s okay,” he gestured towards the exit. “I’ll fill you in on what I know.”

Steve took a breath and got hold of himself, releasing the death grip he had on his carryon.

“Where is he, and what happened?”

“We’re heading down to the docks. Kono is already there. I’ll fill you in along the way.”

*****************************************

“Last night I got a voice message from Danny. He was checking out a tip about an illegal shipment on a small fishing craft. He didn’t think it was anything serious enough to call for back up. When I didn’t hear from him, I assumed everything was okay, but when I called to check this morning, the call went straight to voice mail. Kono and I headed out here to check things out ourselves. We found the boat, but no Danny.”

Chin pulled into a parking space near the docks. Steve noted that Danny’s car was parked nearby. They hopped out and headed down to where the Sea Monkey was docked. Kono could be seen onboard talking with an angry looking middle-aged fisherman who stood with crossed arms, glaring at three sullen teenage boys.

Chin and Steve boarded the boat and Kono stepped over to meet them, a frown on her face. She indicated the angry man and the tight-lipped boys, who stood scowling at each other.

“Mr. Pukui works for the marine biology department at the University. He had a load of illegally harvested marine life on his boat last night that the coast guard recovered and that he was preparing to return to the reef this morning. Looks like the boys here helped themselves to his boat and took it for a joy ride last night and beat him to it. None of them admit to having seen Danny.”

Steve turned his best homicidal SEAL look on the miscreants. Mr. Pukui looked more exasperated then anything, the boys nervous, but defiant. The little fat one with dreadlocks swallowed nervously and Steve’s eyes narrowed, focusing on him. This one would be the first to break under interrogation. He turned back to Kono.

“Keep an eye on them, Chin and I are going to search the boat.”

They headed down below and began a quick search. There wasn’t much to see in the cargo hold, just a pile of empty plastic crates, nets and aquariums and a couple of stacks of wooden crates. Chin glanced behind the crates and froze in his tracks.

“Steve! Over here!”

McGarrett hurried over and they knelt by Chin’s find. Both men swore in a mixture of languages at the sight of the instantly recognizable _tsukomogami_ box sitting smugly next to a pile of familiar clothing. Somehow the thing had once again escaped Professor Takimoto’s custody.

Steve carefully gathered up Danny’s belongings. Everything was here---his shoes, clothes, phone, wallet, keys and weapon. It was pretty obvious that Danny had run afoul of the island hopping hex box last night.

Steve glared at it and resisted the urge to kick it into the bulkhead. After he got Danny back safely he was going to toss that damned thing into a volcano. Almost as though it had read his mind, the box hastily vanished with a small pop of displaced air. Steve and Chin stared grimly at each other as they realized what had happened. Danny had been abandoned somewhere miles off the coast in the open ocean and they had no idea when he was due to change back.

Numbly Steve gathered up his partner’s things and carried them up on deck, where he let Chin do the questioning, while he murmured an explanation aside to a horrified Kono. The young men were not much help as none of them remembered exactly where they had left the sea creatures they had found on the boat, in fact, they had stopped in several spots to safely offload them and avoid the coast guard patrols.

Steve had to grit his teeth and turn away during Chin’s carefully worded questioning regarding ‘a rare sea star, small and rose and gold colored’ Luka had piped up that they had dumped that one farther out with some anemones and sea slugs, and mentioned he had had a difficult time prying it out of the tank. Apparently Danny had clung desperately to his container and to Luka’s hands when the boy had ‘freed’ him. Steve had never wanted to punch a kid so badly in his life.

They had no choice but to finally let them all go in the end. Pukui refused to press charges and the boys had been trying to do a good thing. Chin released them after a stern lecture regarding theft and promised to have a word with Kawika and have him keep an eye on them in the future. Steve stood stoically to one side and wondered grimly if Catherine’s spy satellites could home in on a single sea star. She wasn’t exactly on speaking terms with him anymore since he had dumped her after hooking up with his partner.

They headed back to their vehicles. All they could do was alert the coast guard to the fact they had a missing officer in a certain area and hope that they found Danny in human form before the tiger sharks did. Steve was already on his cell calling in a favor from a friend who owned a helicopter. There was no way in hell he was going to stop looking until he found his partner.

*****************************************

In the meantime a small, angry sea star was laboriously making his way across the ocean floor, trying to figure out a short cut to Oahu, because when he finally got there, there was going to be hell to pay.

****************************************

They spent the entire day searching the areas the kids had indicated they had been at, from both air and sea. The coast guard patrol boats and choppers had had no luck, and neither did Steve and his friend, or any of Chin and Kono’s relatives who owned boats. It was long past dark before Chin and Kono managed to drag Steve away from the water and back to the office to get some rest. Not that he actually would—he spent most of the night using the tech table to go over nautical charts and satellite photos and plan new sweeps for the next day, as well as dives.

Chin and Kono stayed close and took turns napping in their offices. None of them dared talk about it—one small sea star lost in a vast ocean full of hungry predators that found starfish tasty treats---sharks, large fish, manta rays, larger starfish, triton conchs. Even large sea birds were a danger to starfish. It didn’t help that this particular sea star was a native of New Jersey, a city not known for its marine fauna.

Plus, what would happen if Danny suddenly transformed back? None of them were certain how well Danny swam, or if he could swim at all, because his statement to Steve that he ‘swam for survival’ might have been nothing more than some gruff Jersey bluster. It was no secret that Danny had some not so well hidden insecurities as a transplanted urbanite and it would be just like him to boast that he could swim just to hold his own with a team who practically grew up in the ocean. None of them had actually seen Danny in the water and swimming in a pool was vastly different from swimming in open ocean.

****************************************

Danny starfish had a hellishly long night and day. First he had been fishnapped, then unceremoniously pried from his safe container and dropped into the dark ocean depths and he really wished he had at least had the chance to bite the little shit that had done so, because the little bastard had caroled “Be free little star!” as he heartlessly dropped Danny into the deep water.

Danny wasn’t quite sure exactly how being an echinoderm worked, he had only a couple of dim memories from his previous transformation and Steve and Kono’s laughing assurances that he had been very ‘cute’ to work with. Neither were particularly helpful now.

However, judging from some rather horrifyingly graphic nature specials on the Discovery channel that Gracie had subjected him to, he was pretty sure starfish were low on the aquatic food chain, so the first thing he did when he hit the sea floor was find a safe crevice in the coral to hide in until he could actually see where the hell he was, so he sat there most of the night and brooded over his abysmal luck.

Danny was pretty sure that the damned hex box was responsible for the fact that he was so aware of his surroundings—because he didn’t think real starfish actually could see and hear as well as he could, and the fact that he had an eye on the end of each arm took some getting used to, although using one to poke out of his hiding place like a periscope came in handy. It was just his luck that he wound up transformed into something relatively slow and helpless, why the hell couldn’t he at least have been a shark? Danny was sure he would’ve made an awesome shark.

If he were a shark, he could swim right up to Steve’s beach, maybe scare the crap out of some plump tourists along the way and wait until he transformed back—and that right there was something else he had to worry about—and stomp right out of the water and into the kitchen and have a nice cup of fresh brewed Kona. Danny’s dreamy musings over his lack of caffeine was suddenly interrupted by the snout of a large Triggerfish nosing greedily into his hiding place.

Without even thinking about it, Danny hauled back and belted it one, pleased that his calcium-plated endoskeleton was so sturdy. The startled fish retreated hastily, leaving behind a very smug sea star. It wasn’t every day that a fish ran into a starfish that had once spent a lot of his free time working the heavy bag in Jersey. Danny settled back into his well- defended crevice and took a little nap. After all, he had a long swim ahead of him in the morning.

Unfortunately, despite a determined early start, he spent most of his first day as a sea star either hiding or trying to figure out how to effectively maneuver his five limbs. After spending the entire day wandering in circles on the sea bed (he knew he had passed that branch of red coral before), flailing about quite a bit, inadvertently suckering various limbs to rocks and discovering that not only did he have a tendency to trip over his own tiny tube feet, to top everything off he found he couldn’t swim for shit. It was the final indignity and he spent his second night undersea sulking in a hole beneath a rock.

**********************************

The second day of Danny’s disappearance dawned with a hollow eyed Steve still at the tech table. They decided to concentrate on the area where Luka had claimed he had dumped Danny. Steve and Kono would take a boat and dive, while Chin and Steve’s friend Dave used the helicopter for a fly over. The coast guard was still searching, but they all knew it wouldn’t be long before they would have to redirect their resources back to regular patrols.

Steve automatically ate and drank the food and coffee Kono placed in front of him. He had to keep his energy up for the search. He stared at the nautical chart before him, trying to visualize the best place to dive. He suddenly wished with all his heart that he had that damned _tsukomogami_  
box back, so he could use it to transform himself for the search. He had excellent control over his cephalopod form, unlike Danny, who barely remembered his previous transformation due to the concussion he had suffered courtesy of Wo Fat.

Steve remembered the baffled, uncertain look Danny had given him when Steve had last tried to describe Danny’s sea star transformation and rubbed his suddenly burning eyes hard. Danny was so small in that form, and there were so many large creatures that preyed on starfish out there.

Kono suddenly placed a slender hand on his shoulder and squeezed hard. “Chin up, Boss. Danny is tough. We’ll find him.”

He gave her a thin smile and really wished he could believe that. He turned to Chin.

“Call Professor Takimoto and see if that box has turned back up, and if he can give us a rough estimate of when Danny should change back.”

He didn’t tell Chin his plans for the hex box if he ever got his hands on it again.

************************************************

Danny starfish had awakened when the sun finally reached his hiding space and ventured out far enough to hide under a clump of seaweed and have a small clam for breakfast. He didn’t think he would ever look at linguini and clam sauce the same again and he really hoped he wasn’t chowing down on some other poor schmuck who had been cursed.

Now he used all five of his eyes to peer around and try and get some idea of direction. The problem was, he had no fucking clue where he had been dumped, no idea which direction to head back to Oahu (hell, he had no sense of direction down here at all) and definitely no way to get there other than his own annoyingly slow little tube feet.

Frustrated beyond belief, he sat and cussed mentally and angrily waved all five of his arms for a few minutes to blow off steam before realizing that might attract unwanted attention and Death from Above.

Fuming, he clamped himself firmly to a rock and thought hard. If he stayed on the ocean floor, sooner or later something was going to come along and try and eat him. If he moved around, something else was going to try and eat him. If he somehow managed to swim to the surface some big damned bird would definitely try and eat him (he had seen Finding Nemo about forty billion times thanks to Grace). Even sitting around and minding his own business would eventually attract something that would try and eat him.

Being a starfish sucked, Danny decided.

He tried to calculate when he would transform back, but his sense of time was all muddled and as fucked up as his sense of direction now and he really had no clue. Well, he had to do something instead of just sit around and wait to become a Happy Meal. Maybe if he could get closer to the surface it would help. Not only could he maybe get a sense of direction, but possibly he could even get a glimpse of the shoreline and it wouldn’t hurt to be closer to the surface when he changed back. He would have to chance it. He looked around for a tall coral reef or some rocks to climb.

********************************************

Steve surfaced and reluctantly climbed wearily back into the boat to join Kono, slowly shrugging off his scuba gear. They had been diving since early morning to no avail. While they had seen plenty of sea stars, Crown of Thorns, Bat stars, Brittle stars, Cushion stars, etc., not one of them was Danny. In his heart he knew he would recognize his Danno sea star immediately. Quietly he and Kono sat and rested and ate a listless lunch. Neither of them mentioned the fact that the usual time for Danny to transform back had long passed.

The first time Steve had been transformed, he had been an octopus for exactly 24 hours. When he and Danny had been transformed together, they had changed back after about 12 hours. Professor Takimoto had theorized that there were variable factors involving how often the box was opened and how many different persons were changed that went into the length of time the change lasted.

Steve could only hope that because the hex box had been kept securely under lock and key and protective ward for weeks (until a clumsy grad student helping Takimoto catalog artifacts has mistakenly released it, and Steve meanly hoped the dumbass stayed a hermit crab for at least a week) that it meant Danny’s transformation time was considerably longer. It could make the difference between life and death.

Steve stopped chewing, his bite of sandwich suddenly impossible to swallow. Even if Danny survived as a starfish, he was just as vulnerable human. He would transform back naked and weaponless in open salt water under a brilliant sun and would quickly become exhausted and dehydrated. Even under optimal conditions Danny didn’t tan easily—his fair skin reddened and blistered quickly—every trip to the beach had Danny scrambling to stay in the shade and slathering on a thick layer of sun block. Steve also suspected that one of the reasons Danny covered himself from head to foot in his ‘professional’ clothing was because he had sensitive skin.

Steve had seen men who had been stranded for days at sea before. It wasn’t a pretty sight. He squinted up at the sun. After they allowed their lunches to settle, he and Kono would dive again a few kilometers south. Maybe that would make a difference in the search radius. He looked over at Kono and she gave him an encouraging smile, which he half-heartedly returned. He suspected that she knew about him and Danny, but she had loyally never said a word.

Kono’s smile died as she watched Steve turn away and step into the cruiser’s cabin and start the engine so they could expand the search radius. Her heart ached at the mute grief on his face and set in the slump of his shoulders. Steve, more than any of them, knew what could happen to his partner out here and there was nothing comforting she could say or do. All she could do was back him up and pray they would find Danny before it was too late.

And if they never found him…well, she was afraid of what would happen to Steve. She had watched Steve change after Danny barreled into his life from a stoic, uptight military man to a guy who laughed and enjoyed his life and who wore his heart in his eyes when he looked at his partner. She couldn’t bear it if Steve lost that. He had lost too much already.

As the cabin cruiser sped along they passed a small fishing boat. Kono recognized an old crony of her father’s and waved. Joe was a really nice guy, who always shared his catch with her family.

*******************************************

Danny starfish scrambled hastily behind a large rock and into a narrow crevice between two large corals. He kept very still as the huge Triton conch that had been pursuing him slithered ominously past. So far he had successfully dodged another hungry fish, a hovering manta ray and a sea star three times his size whom he was pretty sure had amorous intentions, because he had never been groped so thoroughly by that many arms in his life, except by Octo-Steve. (It kind of reminded him of the time he busted the patrons of a drag bar in Newark as a rookie who had all pronounced him ‘fun-sized’.) Danny was not that kind of sea star, thanks very much, he had a nice SEAL waiting for him at home.

He waited until he was sure the Triton was gone, poked an arm out to peer cautiously around and then climbed out of his hiding place and continued his ascent up the side of the coral reef. So far, he had had no luck with scaling anything high enough to reach the surface and was becoming more than a bit discouraged as well as exhausted. It felt like it was nearing dark again, and he would have to find a safe hiding spot soon to spend the night and hope he didn’t wake up human, drowned and squashed between rocks.

He couldn’t help but wonder how Steve was doing. Did McGarrett even know what had happened to him? What if Danny never changed back? He shivered, had a minor freak out and briefly flailed all five limbs at that thought, then determinedly continued to climb. He would get home and see his partner and his baby girl again. Also, hell would freeze over before he ate seafood again.

Finally, he reached the top of the spiral of rock and peered hopefully around. It was brighter up here, and he could actually see the pale ball of the glowing sun dimly overhead, so he was definitely close to the surface. Not that that did him any good, he still couldn’t swim for shit and if he floated to the surface and risked the currents some hungry gull would scoop him up in no time.

He slumped unhappily against a cluster of barnacles. Suddenly, a bobbing shadow on the surface caught his eye some distance away. He stabbed three limbs at it and stared as hard as he could with his eyespots, then nearly fell off the rock with glee when he realized it was a boat. This was his ride home! He just had to reach it and climb aboard before it pulled anchor and left.

*******************************

On board the _Dolphin_ , Joe Leho put down his newspaper and squinted up at the setting sun. He couldn’t really decide if he wanted to spent the night here, or pull up his net and head home. Joe had retired after spending nearly fifty years as a fisherman, but he still liked to take his little trawler out and drop the net every now and then. He was out now trying for some fat grouper or ahi to take home for his daughter’s 25th anniversary luau this weekend.

He had also kept an eye out for the lost cop that all the fishermen had been chattering about over the radio all day. Apparently, the guy had been dumped overboard yesterday by some miscreants. Joe hoped the poor bastard was still alive. The tiger sharks were rough in this area of the reef. He put down his paper and reached into his cooler for a cold beer. Maybe he would just finish off the six-pack before he headed home.

************************************

Danny starfish hurried as fast as his little tube feet would carry him towards the edge of the rock spire he had climbed; terrified the boat would leave before he could reach it. He was very tired and hungry and could feel his energy faltering. As he reached the sheer edge of the spire and prepared to descend he saw the broad back of a sea turtle a little way below him, swimming lazily towards the boat. Feeling reckless and more than a little desperate, he hurled himself off the rocks and luckily managed to drop right down and land with a plop on top of the huge creature’s shell, and hang on with all five limbs. The huge, gentle reptile barely noticed his slight weight and continued to swim placidly on towards the boat.

**************************************

Aboard the _Dolphin,_ Joe whistled to himself as he began to pull up his anchor. Once it was secure, he hit the button on the hoist and began to reel in his net. Hopefully it was full of fat ahi. He rubbed his palms together in anticipation. He could almost taste the delicious baked fish now. Maybe Alia would bake a chocolate cake for dessert as well.

***************************************

A couple of miles away, Steve and Kono finally admitted defeat for the day and slowly turned their cruiser back towards Oahu. Kono steered while Steve manned the radio, checking to see if anyone had sighted Danny. No one had, and he slumped in his chair and rubbed his tired eyes. His chest was tight with a grief he didn’t dare acknowledge.

*************************************

Below the surface, Danny starfish clung desperately to the ascending anchor chain, he had barely managed to grab it with one arm as the turtle glided serenely by. He hung on tight as it rose out of the water into the bright sunlight. His exhilaration at the success of his plan was suddenly cut short by the pleased screech of a huge gull that fluttered down and stabbed a sharp beak at him. Terrified, he hauled off and socked the bird cross-eyed with all his remaining strength. The gull gave a surprised squawk and backpedaled in mid-air. One hard wing tip slapped Danny’s small body off the chain and he fell, wee arms flailing wildly, back into the water.

Stunned, his small body fluttered back down into the depths. He was too exhausted and concussed to even try and swim, so the tingle of transformation came as a total surprise. Shocked, he gasped and immediately sucked in water instead of oxygen. Desperately, he righted himself and tried to kick for the surface with his last remaining strength, only to be enfolded in the wide mesh of a fishing net and hauled slowly through the water. Danny fought to be free, hands tugging at the mesh, but to no avail. Slowly he stopped struggling, his eyes closed and he sank into unconsciousness.

****************************************

Joe swung the heavy net onto the boat, pleased at the sight of the fat, flapping bodies of the yellow fin tuna that filled it. It felt like a really bountiful catch. He dropped the handle of the winch in shock after he tipped the net and spilled the contents on the deck. Sprawled among the ahi and grouper lay the nude form of a young man. Joe hurried over and knelt by him and felt for a pulse, relieved when he found one.

Quickly he turned the guy on his side when he convulsed and began to cough up the salt water he had swallowed. Joe patted the young man’s back shakily. This wasn’t something he caught every day. He slid an arm under the guy and helped him sit unsteadily up, clear blue eyes met his, and the rescued man grabbed his hand and shook it hard, unable to speak yet. Joe noticed that he had a nasty purple bruise on the side of his face, a split lip and a black eye. Possibly concussed then, after being thrown overboard, and no doubt thirsty as hell.

Carefully, he propped the still gasping man up against a mound of nets he had been repairing and reached for his last cold beer. The grateful look the man gave him as he helped him drink make Joe’s heart swell with pride. He settled the guy into a cozy nest made of netting, thirstily gulping the beer and went to look for a more suitable bottle of water and a blanket. The young man croaked out a raspy ‘thanks’ when Joe covered him and slumped back wearily, empty bottle still clutched close. Worried, Joe checked him, but he had simply fallen asleep from sheer exhaustion.

Joe hurried to radio in his find, started the boat, and headed for the harbor. He hadn’t gone far before a big cabin cruiser roared up beside his boat. He recognized little Kono Kalakaua at the helm and stopped to allow the wild-eyed young man with her to board. Kono, he remembered, was a police officer now, like Chin. Being a cop ran in that entire family, which came in handy when Joe’s wife persisted in accumulating a collection of speeding tickets. She had enough now to paper the hall bathroom.

Steve barely gave Kono time to bring the cruiser to a stop beside the fishing boat before he was vaulting across onto its deck. He shot a frantic glance at Joe, who smiled broadly and gestured towards a pile of netting, where the ocean breeze was ruffling the bright hair that protruded from under a coarse blanket. Heart in his throat, Steve knelt and carefully drew the blanket back.

Danny was curled up naked and asleep in a nest of nets, an empty water bottle held loosely in one scraped, bruised hand. His hair and skin was still damp and salt encrusted, but he wasn’t sunburned, an indication that he hadn’t been human long. There was an ugly purple bruise on the side of his face and he had a nasty black eye and a split lip. Steve examined him gently, not surprised to find a bump on the side of his head, hidden under the blond hair. Probable concussion then, compounded with exhaustion and exposure.

Shaking with reaction, Steve simply sat down and pulled Danny into his lap and held him close. Danny’s head lolled heavily against his shoulder as he slept on, and Steve just tucked him closer, dimly aware that tears were running down his nose and dripping onto the blond head. He couldn’t seem to stop touching Danny, running his hands over the sturdy body, carefully checking his torso and limbs for injury. Danny had been fighting for his life, he realized, recognizing the bruised hands and scraped knuckles for the defensive wounds they were. It had been a very close call indeed. He finally got himself together enough to raise his head and address a beaming Joe.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

His voice was thick with emotion. He knew he should move, lift his partner and transfer him to the much faster cruiser and get him to the hospital. But he couldn’t seem to get his limbs to cooperate, all he could do was bury his face in sun streaked blond hair and hold on, mouth pressed hard against Danno’s temple. He closed his eyes and breathed him in, warm and heavy and alive in Steve’s arms where he belonged.

****************************************

Steve stood near the east rift zone of the active Kalauea Caldera, watching calmly as a slow moving flow of lava inched towards his boots. He dangled a carved box secured in a kahuna blessed fishing net perilously close to the flow. The net swayed as the _tsukomogami_ box tried to escape and failed. He held it there for a few minutes to make a point and then sat it back down at his feet.

“I could toss you in and watch you burn and I’m pretty sure you can’t escape Pele. I know you probably didn’t mean to, but you nearly got the most important person in the world to me killed.“

He dangled the box a bit closer to the molten lava for emphasis. It twitched nervously.

“However, since you’ve survived long enough to gain a spirit of your own, and my mom always taught me to respect my elders, and since you are the one who brought Danny and me together, I’m going to give you one last chance and offer you a deal.”

He knelt and leaned over the box.

“Leave Danny and me the hell alone. If you want to go around changing people into fish, how about doing it to some criminals for a change? Wouldn’t that be more amusing? Leave me and mine alone and I won’t drop you into the volcano. I’m placing you in Pele’s custody as of right now. Don’t make me come after you again.”

Steve opened the net and nudged the box out with his boot, gave it one last warning glare, then turned away and headed back down the trail.

The box sat meditatively for a moment, then opened its lid experimentally, aiming itself towards the tall, broad-shouldered form striding briskly away. Before it could do anything, a pair of strong, slender hands clamped it firmly shut and picked it up.

The beautiful young woman tossed her thick, red hair decorated with fiery lehua blossoms, and smiled wickedly down at the captive box.

“You heard the man,” she purred in a rich, husky voice. “You’re in my custody now, _keiki._ ”

If a box could be said to gulp, this one did so.

****************************************

Steve pulled his truck into his drive, jumped out and hurried inside. The doctors had insisted on keeping Danny overnight at the hospital, not only because of his head injury, but because he was so exhausted. He had slept all the way back to the island, to the hospital and had only wakened long enough to blink sleepily up at Steve after he was examined and tucked safely in a hospital bed and give him a soft, relieved smile before falling asleep again.

Steve had left him snug in their bed this morning, with a note on the bedside table, before confiscating the hex box from Professor Takimoto and hauling it off to the Big Island and the volcano. Now he was eager to be with his lover. Once inside the house, he realized that Danny was up—there was the scent of freshly brewed coffee and bacon from the kitchen. When he checked he found an empty, crumb-sprinkled plate on the table and the back door to the lanai open to catch the breeze off the cove.

Stepping outside, he found Danny leaning against a post, staring out at the water, a cup of coffee in his hands. He was shirtless and dressed in a pair of thin gray sleep pants that hung low over his narrow hips and dragged over his bare heels. Steve stepped up behind him, slid his arms around his trim waist, pressed close and brushed a gentle kiss to Danny’s bruised cheekbone.

“Morning.”

“Good morning to you, too.” Danny’s voice was still a bit rough from all the saltwater he had swallowed. He leaned back in Steve’s arms and scowled at a passing seagull.

“How are you feeling? Still have a headache?”

“Yeah, but its easing off. Sleep and food helped. Where did you wander off to this morning?”

Danny turned in Steve’s arms and nuzzled into the curve of his throat, golden whiskers scratching his skin in an interesting way that made Steve shiver.

Steve hugged him close, mouth pressed into disheveled hair, just breathing in his warm male scent.

“Just had an errand to run.” The less said about that damned box, the better.

He raised his head and stepped back a bit, keeping hold of Danny’s free hand, then gently took his cup from him and set it aside.

“Come here a minute.” He tugged his partner towards the large hammock strung between two palms in the yard.

Danny raised a brow, but went willingly. Smiling fondly as Steve climbed into the hammock and pulled Danny in with him. He settled along the taller man’s side, and laid his head on a broad shoulder with a happy sigh. It was nice to lie in the shade and listen to the waves and watch the clouds on a lazy morning. He entangled his fingers with Steve’s and they rocked quietly together until Danny yawned. He was getting sleepy again. Beside him, Steve cleared his throat and gently squeezed his hand, playing nervously with Danny’s fingers.

“Um. I have something for you…” His voice trailed off, almost shy.

Danny raised his eyes curiously, searching Steve’s face. He watched as McGarrett fumbled with a pocket on his cargo pants and pulled out a small jeweler’s box, which he thrust clumsily into Danny’s hand. Steve’s face was flushed and he was looking everywhere but at Danny’s face and Danny would swear that Steve’s hands were shaking.

Danny blinked down at the little box, then back up at his terrified partner. He could feel a wide, stupidly happy smile spread across his face. It hurt his sore cheek, but he didn’t care.

“Okay,” he blurted out.

“Okay?” Steve repeated nervously, eyes darting up and searching Danny’s face.

“Yeah. Let’s do this thing.”

Danny beamed at his socially inept lunkhead of a partner.

“You haven’t even opened the box yet!” Steve pointed out. He dropped his eyes and mumbled. “You might not like it.”

Carefully, Danny started to thumb open the little box. He paused.

“This one isn’t hexed, is it?” he teased.

Steve’s jaw dropped and he scowled down his nose at his pain in the ass partner.

“No, it is not!”

Danny grinned at him, gotcha, and thumbed open the box to reveal the heavy silver ring within. It was his turn for his jaw to drop. Carefully he pulled it out and slid it on his ring finger. It fit perfectly, the tiny cast silver tentacle curled snugly around his finger. He felt tears well up in his eyes and furiously blinked them away.

“Yeah. Okay, yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, whatever you want, yeah.”

Suddenly, Steve surged over him and was kissing him fiercely, mouth hot and wet. His big hands were gentle as they cupped Danny’s bruised face, but he never stopped kissing him, hungrily, almost desperately as though Danny could vanish at any moment. Danny ignored the pain of his split lip and held him close and kissed back, understanding full well that soul deep fear of losing the one he loved.

They lay tangled together and held each other and kissed until their lips were swollen and bruised, Steve placed delicate kisses along Danny’s bruised jaw and the tender corner of his eye. He nuzzled Danny’s ear and whispered “ _Pe ‘ape ‘a. My pe ‘ape ‘a.”_

They kept on kissing tenderly before finally falling asleep together, Steve’s weary, dark head heavy on Danny’s wide shoulder and tucked under his jaw. Danny’s arms wound starfish tight around broad tattooed shoulders and they dozed together while the surf murmured a lullaby and the wind off the cove gently rocked the hammock where they slept.

**************************************************

The next day they were late to work and Kono hid a smile at the sleepy satisfaction painted on both men’s faces. Steve looked like he was about to burst with pride, his heart in his eyes whenever he looked at his partner and Danny looked like a cat who had been at the cream, all smug satisfaction.

How they thought they were keeping their relationship a secret was a mystery to her. When she saw the heavy silver ring on Danny’s left hand, it was all she could do not to squeal out loud. Finally! Chin owed her another hundred bucks. She had a broad grin on her face most of the morning, which both men loftily ignored.

Around one o’clock, Chin strolled into the room, a copy of the Star Advertiser in his hand, handsome face puzzled.

“Hey guys? Did you see the article in the paper about the jewelry store that was broken into last night? Nothing was stolen, but the vault had about a half dozen purple sea urchins scattered all over the floor.”

Steve groaned and leaned back in his chair, hand over his face. Danny sighed and closed the folder he was holding.

“I think we’ll let the HPD deal with that case, right, McGarrett?” he peered expectantly over at his partner.

“Damned right, Danno.”

FINI

May 26, 2011


End file.
